Mushroom Barley Soup is the second recipe in my series on Ancient Grains. I'm sure you're familiar with barley, especially in its fermented liquid form, but you can put barley into your diet in other ways besidesa cold one on a Friday night. Which, I'm certainly not judging, by the way. That is still, and always will be, a perfectly fineway to get a fix of somebarley.
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All About The Goodness of Barley
People have cultivated barley as far back as 13,000 years ago. Now that definitely qualifies as an “ancient” grain, right?.
As with all whole grains, barley is rich in fibre, which helps to regulate blood sugars, reduce cholesterol, and keep your heart healthy and happy. For all the goods on this healthy grain, check out Barley: Health Benefits, Facts, Research.
Hulled barley is the whole grain, and pearl barley is the barley grain with thehull removed. When you remove the hull, you also remove a lot of the nutrition. Whole grains pack a huge nutrition profile, so, whenever possible, try to use hulled barley.
More Ancient Grains
I adore mushrooms, in all of their incredible variety. However, I do know that some people are not mushroom fans. Some folks have an issue with the texture and earthiness of mushrooms. If that is true for you, then I gotta tell you, you're looking at the wrong recipe.
Go check out some other ancient grain recipes, instead. TryFarro Stuffed Peppers, Quinoa Sweet Potato Chickpea Salad, or Farro Salad with Belgium Endive and Pomegranate.
Mushroom Barley Soup is my vegetarian take on the classic Beef Barley Soup. This soup is simply wonderful. I mean, really, delicious. There are three kinds of mushrooms here, for layers of deep mushroom flavour.
The sh*take mushrooms have a wonderful, meaty feel in your mouth, and the barley adds a hearty nuttiness with a bit of chewiness. One of the mushroom varieties in this recipe is dried and reconstituted sh*take mushrooms. It's an important ingredient because you use the soaking water in the soup, which adds a rich depth of flavour.
Dried mushrooms are a great pantry staple. They're handy to have on hand for so many recipes, likeMushroom Risotto orChicken Mushroom Lasagna.
Recipe
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Mushroom Barley Soup
Three kinds of Mushrooms, plus Barley make this a hearty, healthy and delicious soup.
Do you cook barley before adding it to soup? Your beef barley soup will simmer long enough to cook the barley. There is no need for the additional step of cooking the barley first. The barley takes about 30 minutes to cook completely.
Barley is high in fiber, especially beta-glucan, which may reduce cholesterol and blood sugar levels. It may also aid weight loss and improve digestion. Whole-grain, hulled barley is more nutritious than refined, pearled barley. It can be substituted for any whole grain and easily added to your diet.
Since the barley can absorb too much of the liquid when made ahead, and get mushy, I find it best to cook the barley separately. Make as directed, just omitting the barley.
Each serving contains about 120 calories, 1 g fat (0 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat), 0 g cholesterol, 199 mg sodium, 25 g carbohydrate, 4 g dietary fiber, 4 g sugars, and 4 g protein.
Barley does not need to be soaked before cooking, however, it is a good idea to rinse the grains. This removes any dirt or extra starch that is on the grain.
Do you have to soak barley before cooking? Pearl barley does not need to be soaked prior to cooking because it cooks quickly. Hulled barley benefits from soaking in water for a few hours before cooking. However, you should still budget more time for the hulled grain to cook (about 35 to 40 minutes).
Depending on what you're looking for in your diet, they certainly stack up differently, but in most cases, barley beats oatmeal to the nutrition punch. Besides helping make you feel full, fiber keeps you regular and helps maintain the health of your GI (gastrointestinal) tract.
Barley has been shown to have antitumor properties through regulating the immune system and limiting cancer cell proliferation and dissemination. Furthermore, barley possesses antioxidant and anti-inflammatory characteristics, which may contribute to its anticancer potential.
Celiac disease or gluten sensitivity: The gluten in barley can make celiac disease worse. Avoid using barley. Allergies to cereal grains: Consuming barley might cause an allergic reaction in people who are sensitive to other cereal grains, including rye, wheat, oat, corn and rice.
As barley is a starch the best you can do is dilute it, or thin it out a bit. You may need to add a fair bit of broth and more of your vegetal ingredients. Possibly to the point of doubling your recipe. It will depend on when you find the taste and texture to have gotten back to acceptable levels.
Browning the meat in large pieces adds deep, roasted flavor, without the over-toughening that happens when you brown it in smaller pieces. Sautéing the vegetables, then adding them back to the pot toward the end of cooking, ensures that they don't become flavorless bits of mush.
Hulled barley, considered a whole grain, has had just the indigestible outer husk removed. It's darker in color and has a little bit of a sheen. Pearled barley, also called pearl barley, is not a whole grain and isn't as nutritious. It has lost its outer husk and its bran layer, and it has been polished.
Already hailed for its power to improve cholesterol numbers, the soluble fiber that's so abundant in barley may also keep your nose from dripping like a leaky hose. A University of Illinois study discovered that soluble fiber increases the production of an anti-inflammatory protein that strengthens the immune system.
Like other grains, pearl barley helps control cholesterol levels and promotes cardiovascular health in general. It also helps control blood pressure and reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke.
You should not need to precook the pearl barley as pearl barley usually needs 30-40 minutes of cooking to soften. In addition, the starches from the barley help to slightly thicken the stock. Pearl barley has been hulled and then polished to remove the bran, so it cooks quickly.
Products high in starch also interfere with heat processing. -- Avoid using noodles, alphabet noodles, spaghetti, or other pasta, rice, barley, etc to canned soups.
Hulled barley, considered a whole grain, has had just the indigestible outer husk removed. It's darker in color and has a little bit of a sheen. Pearled barley, also called pearl barley, is not a whole grain and isn't as nutritious.It has lost its outer husk and its bran layer, and it has been polished.
Introduction: My name is Kelle Weber, I am a magnificent, enchanting, fair, joyous, light, determined, joyous person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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